1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article for precise application of makeup; and more particularly to an article having an ergonomic handheld design, including an arcuate top portion containing a curved rim contoured in the shape of the eye and rounded lateral edges that are covered by a rubber guard, for interfacing the eyelid in a safe comfortable manner during application of makeup to an individual's lower eyelashes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Application of makeup around the eye can be difficult. Steady hand movement is the order of the day, since close contact to the eye increases the risk of misapplication of makeup, or injury to the eye ball. When applying mascara, for example, even the slightest touch of the mascara wand against the skin proximal to the eyelashes results in mascara clumping or accumulating on the skin. Removal of unwanted mascara on the delicate skin contiguous to the eye can be difficult, and often results in the mascara streaking on the skin. Moreover, application of mascara can pose risks to the eye itself as the mascara wand moves in close proximity to the eye ball, potentially resulting in irritating or scratching one's eye if the wand unintentionally hits the eye ball. Even still, where steady application has been achieved, if the mascara wetted eyelashes, still not dry, close to contact the lower eyelid, mascara transfers to the loser eyelid skin and streak to skin of the lower lid.
Devices have been provided for curling and coloring lashes, generally being constructed having an upper and lower jaw, with mounting pads, that are hingedly connected and operate to apply concentrated pressure to progressively bend/curl and/or color a person's eyelashes. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,551 to Iosilevich. These eyelash curling and coloring apparatuses cannot be readily utilized as a shield when applying make-up as the angle required to hold these bulky devices flush against the user's face would result in the jaws causing an obstacle. Rather these types of devices are constructed to be utilized to manipulate and color or contort the eyelashes rather than provide a shield during application of mascara.
Various make-up application shields have been provided in attempts to alleviate eye injury and make-up accumulation on the delicate skin surrounding the eye. However, the vast majority of these application shields fail to provide an application shield that is constructed having a rubber guard traversing rounded edges to enhance safety to the user's eye during use. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,789,856 to Bomba, U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,170 to Kassai, U.S. Design Pat. No. D255606 to Garcia and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0022838 to Davis. Sharp, un-rounded edges resultant from the construction of these application shields yield potential danger to the user as these edges can readily contact the user's eye ball and scratch, or worse puncture the eye ball. Moreover, these application shields do not provide a soft rubber guard or rim covering for comfortable, safe contact against the user's eyelid/under eye skin area.
Even where other heretofore disclosed and utilized application shields provide rounded edges, they fail to disclose an arcuate top portion having a rubber guard traversing the rounded edges and the arced central section. Examples of shield having rounded or slightly rounded edges can be found in the following, which generally provide devices with ergonomic handles arranged with a shield portion: U.S. Pat. No. 4,033,364 to Inzana et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,658 to Green; U.S. Pat. No. 5,311,888 to Leigh; U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,499 and Design Pat. No. D423714 to Fuentes, et al.; U.S. Design Pat. No. D119329 to Leyne; U.S. Design Pat. No. D252890 to Cavalieri; U.S. Design Pat. No. D254935 to Staudinger; U.S. Design Pat. No. D257400 to Cunningham; U.S. Design Pat. No. D532929 to Weltmann; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0225761 to Secosky. Although these types of application shields provide rounded or slightly rounded edges for enhanced safety of the eye and surrounding skin tissue, these shields fail to provide a rubber guard traversing the rounded edges. As such, these shields do not protect the user's eye from irritation, discomfort and scratching or other injury that can result from contact of the device with the eye ball or delicate skin. Various devices of this nature can also be found in the following examples, which involve shield portions with grooves for receiving eyelashes, including: U.S. Design Pat. No. D536129 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0124865 to Davis. There is no indication that these shield portions or curved edge and grooves are composed of rubber, and as such, discomfort during use and risk of injury to the delicate eye skin or eye itself are probable. Moreover, any application of these grooved eyelash makeup shields would require the user to align her eyelashes to be properly received within the corresponding grooves; otherwise the lashes could clump or stick together upon application of the mascara.
Other application shields teach a unitary body device that is virtually entirely composed of a silicone, foam, and/or polymeric material/flexible material. These unitary bodied devices provide a contiguous body of foam or flexible material, and do not provide a device composed of a hard, durable, impermeable plastic material constructed with a separate rubber guard rim. For example, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,389 to Bakken (a flange is provided, but same is integral with the guard, the piece being molded as one integral unit). Contiguous bodies of foam or flexible polymeric material shields may cause make-up, such as mascara, to accumulate on the guards, resulting in smudging onto the user's cheeks and face over time and introduce debris or bacteria into the eye of the user.
Still other devices are constructed providing a removable shield portion that is mounted on a handle portion and may be discarded after use to be replaced by a newly mounted shield, or is removed to reveal a fresh shield as part of a stack of shields (i.e. generally paper). For examples, refer to: U.S. Pat. No. 5,957,142 to Karafilis (applicator mask/shield formed of a generally soft, flexible material); U.S. Pat. No. 6,640,814 to Burke (mascara shield made of soft, flexible sheet material provided with adhesive band for mounting a release sheet); Foreign Publication No. GB2376882 to Mussett (shield composed of plastic or paper bearing an absorbent layer thereon); U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,560 to North, et al. (pad is formed of a plurality of leaves). Even though these shield portions are flexible in nature, they are not constructed having a non-porous shield body with an arcuate rim portion having rounded edges appointed with a rubber rim portion that traverses the rim of the shield body, separate from the shield body. Rather, these shields are constructed as unilateral bodies (or has a covering that covers the shield body) constructed of the flexible material. Inasmuch as the flexible material is porous, the shield body will be exposed to debris accumulation, requiring same to be discarded; but during its use accumulated debris would tend to cause clumping of the mascara and/or mascara debris which contacts the user's skin or is displaced into the user's eye.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to construct makeup or mascara application devices, there remains a need in the art for an application device that (i) has a handle and an arcuate top portion formed of a smooth polymeric or metal material, which is easily cleaned, and (ii) is lightweight, compact and portable, thereby resulting in a hygienic eye applicator device. In addition, there exists a need in the art for an application device wherein the top portion has an arcuate shape, and includes an applicator rim with rounded lateral edges and an arced central section, both of which are covered with a rubber guard contiguously traversing substantially the entire surface area of the applicator rim to thereby enhance safety of the device during operation.